The Long War made its tour stop on April 25/18 at Batstone’s Northern Ramble in Renfrew, ON bringing their debut full-length album release “Landscapes”. The Long War were the winners of the 2017 CBC Searchlight competition and this would be their next step in a highly anticipated performance.

As it often is, the expectations are high for a band after winning this type of competition. Starting on the peak of winning the competition, The Long War are essentially working backwards to move forward.  Now they are getting out on tour, playing the smaller events and to smaller crowds in towns, cities and wherever the journey takes them.  Don’t let them winning fool you into thinking they don’t feel like they have work to do.  Jarrett and Chad explained to me that “there goal is to build honest relationships along the way and earn fans one fan at a time”. Before the show tonight the band could be seen interacting and speaking casually with the audience. Genuine and sincere are two words that come to mind when I think of them.

RORY TAILLON

Opening for The Long War was the multi talented Ottawa based Rory Taillon. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Rory’s and with good reason. Described as Acoustic Alternative-Folk, Rory brings his unique refreshing style that’s refreshingly different from what we hear on Top 40 today. His vocal range is broad, clear and strong. Combine all this with his guitar playing, stage presence and you have a show you need to hear and feel to truly get it. On this night he continued in his long stretch of delivering intimate strong performances taking the audience in for the ride.  Playing the song Grace, which he wrote for this wife, every eye in the place was focused on him as he put everything he had into this powerful song. Perfection.

THE LONG WAR

Jarrett Lee:  Singer/songwriter/Guitar from Toronto.

Chad Gilmour:  Vocalist/guitarist from Belleville, lived in Ottawa for many years.

Jessica Lee: Vocalist/keyboardist.

Neil Williamson: Vocalist/drummer from Edinburgh, Scotland – moved to Vancouver at 25

Carson Webber: Bassist from Vancouver.

Album: Landscapes
Release Date: April 20, 2018
Genre: Indie Rock

Headliners The Long War took the stage to an awaiting audience all who waited patiently.  From the moment they took the stage, I knew this was going to be good. The talent was evident in their performance. Jarrett’s voice is strong and has a nice sense of simplicity and confidence with a feeling that it went naturally where he wanted to go with it. The band provided natural beautiful harmonies that on many occasions I saw audience members participating right along with them.

 

The entire night flowed nicely from one song to another.  Leave it to Chad and his guitar playing to provide a subtle gritty guitar tone that perfectly compliments each song with licks and riffs. A tough assignment but with his abilities he does it with ease. The last song of the night was “Lake Louise” which these guys (and gal) absolutely nailed.   Live performances can often sound different than the album versions and can be a bit of a let down.  Not the case with The Long War.  This performance reached and exceeded my expectations.  Speaking with many of those in attendance afterwards there was consensuses – a fantastic night.

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